Starting from the 13th century Old Riga was economic, financial and cultural centre of the region.
Riga was never pure Latvian city. The city was conquered many times. Until the beginning of the 20th
century the main people who live in the town were Germans. After the national structure of the city changed for
Latvians and Russians. A lot of Poles, Lithuanians and others also became Riga inhabitants. The changes affected
the cultural development of the city. The easiest way to see this affect is to take a look at the architecture
of Old Riga, where it's possible to see some features of the German architecture and also the architecture of
some Russian, Italian, Holland and other countries cities.

On of the most famous masterpieces of the architecture of Old Riga today is Riga castle. It is the biggest and also
in the best condition of all castles of middle ages in Europe. The Dome Church is the biggest church in whole Northern
Europe, which at the beginning of the 20th century could be proud of having the biggest working wind-box in the world.

In Old Town on the little territory five different confessions were able to coexist. Each of them had its church,
which nowadays is still in good condition. This list could bee continued for a very long time. It is not a miracle,
that Old Riga is a unique part of the city, which is included in UNESCO list of the world cultural legacy.